McNabb officially retires with the Eagles

Six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb, left, gestures as Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie looks on, during a news conference in Philadelphia, on Monday July 29, 2013, announcing that McNabb will officially retire a member of the Eagles. McNabb played 11 of his 13 seasons with the Eagles, leading them to eight playoff appearances, five NFC East titles, five conference championship games and one Super Bowl loss. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)

PHILADELPHIA – After all these years, the sensitive side of Donovan McNabb unexpectedly poured out during his retirement ceremony with the Eagles at the NovaCare Complex on Monday.

Shortly after the Eagles confirmed McNabb would be inducted into their hall of fame and his No. 5 retired in September he thanked all who were part of it and made peace with the critics.

“To everyone that’s here, everybody that’s watching, to all the fans, I truly love you,” McNabb said. “I gave everything I had. When you saw ‘5,’ you knew ‘5’ was going to give you what he’s got.”

It was so gut-wrenching the 36-year-old McNabb had to pause to collect himself. Later he almost lost it thanking Andy Reid, who made him the second overall pick in the 1999 draft.

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Speaking of drafts, owner Jeffrey Lurie revealed the Eagles planned to select either McNabb or a running back with their first pick in that draft. And of course a group of Eagles fans bussed to Madison Square Garden to pressure the Eagles into choosing running back Ricky Williams.

When the Cleveland Browns grabbed Tim Couch at No. 1 overall, the Eagles scooped up McNabb. Had McNabb gone first, the Birds would have taken running back Edgerrin James according to Lurie. That busload of fans, you may recall, serenaded the choice of a quarterback, not necessarily McNabb, with boos when he was introduced at the podium by then Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

What if McNabb had been picked by the Browns and the Eagles chosen James? No disrespect to the running back. But does anyone think the Eagles would have produced a 101-56-1 record, including the playoffs, over the next 11 years with James?

Eagles icon Brian Dawkins, whose number was retired last season, said McNabb made the players around him better and helped resurrect a franchise at rock bottom.

“All you can ask for as a player is to have a chance,” Dawkins said. “And with a quarterback like Donovan you had a chance. Not every franchise could say that.”

Watching the highlights of McNabb’s remarkable career was a reminder of how he uplifted the Eagles. Terrell Owens, his only elite receiver, was conspicuously missing from the video. The players McNabb connected with – Chad Lewis, Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell - have come and gone.

While McNabb said he had no regrets, it sure sounded like the rift with Owens during the 2005 season qualified.

“No matter what may have been going on, if you felt this way about someone or you didn’t like what was going on upstairs when you stepped out on the field and laced up the shoes it was time to play ball,” McNabb said. “And we made some great things happen. What did he have almost 15 touchdowns in a season? Nobody has ever done that here. He had over 1,000 yards receiving in about eight games or so. When you’re clinching your division by Week 9 or Week 10 that means you’re really doing something.

“That was an exciting year. Even in the ’05 season when I had the sports hernia we were really pretty much leading the league in most of the categories as receiver-quarterback. Even with the turmoil that was going on.”

McNabb’s number goes up at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 19, the night Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs invade Philadelphia. The duo will be so emotionally spent they might have to see Dr. Phil to get better.

Choking back tears, McNabb thanked “Big Red” for taking the chance and sticking with me in ’99.

“Eleven great years,” McNabb said. “We’ll forever be linked to together. But that’s one of the things where I can honestly say, I love him. We made history, Big Fella.”

McNabb clearly doesn’t blame Reid for the Easter Sunday trade that sent him to the Washington Redskins in the spring of 2010. And it doesn’t sound like McNabb faults Lurie, who yesterday called him “an amazing face of the franchise.”

“You know, you just couldn’t be more proud,” Lurie said. “I used to tell my fellow owners that I’m so lucky to have a quarterback and a leader that you can be so proud of every single day of the year.”

No, McNabb intimated someone in the front office was responsible.

“The way it happened really threw me off,” McNabb said. “And I asked Andy was he pretty much who made the decision? Couldn’t give me an answer. So it was time to move on.”

McNabb later said he felt Reid’s hands were tied behind his back.

McNabb may have no regrets but he’s haunted by the Eagles’ loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. Calling it “the cherry on top,” McNabb said the achievement he cherished most was winning the NFC championship in 2004 on their way to the Super Bowl.

“That was something that we fought for a couple times,” McNabb said. “That brings back memories of the effort you put in.

“I told the fans that I would bring a championship here. My goal was to have them parade down Broad Street. Now, the Phillies did it first. But you know, I apologized to the fans because that was my goal. I feel like I let them down. I don’t regret anything that happened throughout my career here. The fans, they truly appreciate the effort I gave.”

What McNabb appreciated most about playing in Philly was that the fans judged their quarterback by wins and losses.

“And we sure won a lot,” he said.

Later McNabb signed off with words that he intimated came from the late Jim Johnson, the defensive coordinator Eagles players and fans idolized.

“If you want to be great,” McNabb said, echoing Johnson, “make the man next to you greater.”